


In the Conference Room

by Joe_Reaves



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Established Relationship, Ficlet, M/M, S2 Ep8 Empty Planet, post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-09
Updated: 2010-04-09
Packaged: 2017-10-08 19:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hotch and Morgan talk after Morgan's close call with the car bomb.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Conference Room

"If you ever do anything that dangerous again, I will shoot you myself," Hotch growled, shoving Derek back against the wall in the conference room.

Derek blinked up at him in shock. Hotch had never lost it like this around him before. Sure the man had a temper, especially around unsubs who hurt children, but he usually managed to rein it in and while he would snap at team members, he never got physical. He always kept himself tightly under control. Derek grinned. He liked him out of control. He just needed to figure a way to get him like this without risking blowing himself up in future.

"You know I had to," he said quietly. "She needed someone and I needed to be there for her. If you didn't believe that, you'd have written me up for disobeying a direct order out there. I did what I had to."

"I know," Hotch snarled. "Just don't ever do it again. You think I want to watch you get blown apart right in front of me? Have to tell your mother what happened? Tell Gideon what happened for that matter and Reid, Garcia, the whole team? Have to go to your funeral and stand there with the others and pretend I'm nothing more than your boss and maybe your friend?"

Derek took a sudden deep breath; he hadn't thought of it like that. Pushing Hotch across the room and into a chair, he knelt next to him. "I'm sorry, man. I never really thought about that. You know I don't have a death wish. I don't take risks I don't have to. Today was ..."

"Today was something you had to do in order to be able to look at yourself in the mirror tomorrow, I know," Hotch assured him. "I don't want anything to happen to you, but I know I can't wrap you in cotton wool and keep you safe, even if you'd let me. Our jobs are dangerous, I accept that, but days like today make it all a little too real."

Derek leaned closer and kissed him softly. "I can't do anything about the risk of one of us dying, but the rest of it ... I think we should come out, Hotch. Just to the team. I know things could be difficult for us if we made it public, you're my boss, my married boss at that, but I want to know that if anything does happen, even if one of us gets hit by a bus, the other one won't be left alone." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides they're bound to figure it out at some point. They're profilers. I'm amazed Gideon hasn't seen it already. I think Reid knows or at least suspects."

Hotch pulled him closer and held on to him as tightly as he dared. "You scared the hell out of me today, Derek, and you're right. They deserve to know and it will go better if we tell them before they work it out themselves. And it's not the profilers you should be worrying about. I think Garcia knew before we did."

"What?" Morgan blinked at him, unable to come up with anything more coherent.

Hotch laughed. "Some profiler you are. She flirts with you more than the rest of us because you're safe. She's always known your carefully constructed ladies man rep is an act. A week or two after we got together she started making those comments to me as well. I think Reid figured us out because of her behaviour so much as ours." He kissed Derek again. "Now let's stop talking about the team and start talking about us. Haley isn't expecting me home tonight. Let's go somewhere with less cameras and discuss how you can assure me you're still in one gorgeous piece." He tugged Derek to his feet and kept hold of his hand until they left the conference room. Thanks to those kisses he was going to have to ask Penelope to wipe the security footage from tonight. Again.


End file.
